Sausage and White Bean Stew with Escarole (or Spinach)

This is a delicious soup/stew that is perfect for a cold night.   An old roommate of mine, Andrea Bearce Duty, also loved to cook and this is one of the recipes I made sure to get from her before she moved out.  It is simple to make, healthy, delicious and of course makes great leftovers.   The other great thing about this recipe is it is very easy to make it more as a soup or as a stew.  If you want it to be soupier, then stick to the original measurements.  If you want it more hearty like a stew, add more meat and beans and go a little lighter on the chicken broth.  Either way it is delicious and Andy and I could not get enough of it last night.

What I loved about Andrea was how everyday I came home from school she was either cooking or baking something new.  She truly had a love for food and now she owns a very successful business in Austin called Bake Sale that specializes in dessert bars for weddings and special events.  If you live down there, you should definitely check it out! 

P.S. It is hard to get a good picture of stew when it is still steaming and fogging up the camera lens.  So I apologize for the blurriness.

Here is the recipe:

1 tsp. olive oil

8 ounces bulk Italian Sausage, sweet and/or hot (I used hot Italian Chicken Sausage and I used almost a pound)*

5 large garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, or to taste (I like to use more)

1 head escarole chopped into 2-inch pieces (spinach works too)

3 cups cooked or canned white beans , partially drained (I used 4 cups)

3 cups chicken stock or chicken broth (I used 4 cups)

½ stick unsalted butter (optional and I didn’t use it)

½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 plum tomatoes, diced

2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

salt and pepper to taste

*I always find chicken sausage still in its casing, but it is very easy to remove the casing.  Then brown like normal sausage.

In a large deep skillet, heat the olive oil then cook the sausage over medium heat until it begins to brown, about 10 minutes.

Add the garlic and pepper flakes to the skillet and sauté over medium-high heat until the garlic softens, about 2 minutes.  Add the escarole and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes.

Add the beans and cook for 1 minute.  Add the stock or broth and bring to a gentle boil.

Add the butter (optional), cheese, tomatoes and half the parsley.  Mix to combine and cook until heated through and butter is melted.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish with remaining parmesan and parsley.

I hope you enjoy this as much as we did last night!

Stuffed,

Brittany

Slow Cooked Smoky Chipotle Brown Sugar Chicken Tacos

As many of my friends know, I love tacos.  I love them so much that I do not refer to them as tacos, but as TACOOOOOS!  And these tacos were absolutely amazing!  An hour after I was done eating, the smoky chipotle flavors were still tickling my taste buds, making me want more!

I found this recipe on a new blog I found called Can You Stay for Dinner that I am absolutely obsessed with and cannot wait to try more of the recipes.  Everything on the blog is healthy and looks so scrumptious. 

I like these tacos so much for three reasons that I frequently post about the food I make.  Easy and quick to make.  Delicious.  Healthy.  When cooking meets these three criteria, I am in heaven. (Although I do love the complicated gourmet food challenges on occasion too!)

Here is the recipe:

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast

1/2 red onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic

15 oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes, drained (recommended: Muir Glen)

1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, finely chopped (1 pepper pulled from a packed can – I used 3 peppers and recommend it)

2 tablespoons brown sugar

juice of 1 lime

1/4 cup packed fresh cilantro

1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke

corn or flour tortillas

Toppings:

avocado

cheese

cabbage

red onion

Place chicken in the base of your slow cooker.

Puree all remaining ingredients in a blender or food processor until well combined and smooth.

Pour over chicken breasts and cook on low for 8-10 hours. Shred using two forks.

I hope you enjoy these TACOOOOOOS as much as I did!

Stuffed,

Brittany

Mayo-Free Tuna Salad

Tuna salad has always been a favorite lunchtime meal of mine and we always make it the same way in our house.  We usually use my homemade candied jalapenos finely diced and a little bit of mayonnaise and it is delicious.  So when I saw a post one of my friends had put up on their blog for a mayo free tuna salad I thought I would give it a whirl and I am sure glad I did.  I made a few adjustments to the ingredients, but if you want the original recipe click on the link for her blog Fit to Flourish.

Here is the recipe:

2 2.6 oz packages white tuna packed in water

½ avocado mashed with a fork

1 ½ Dijon mustard

Mrs. Dash no salt seasoning to taste

Lemon juice

(Romaine lettuce leaves or bread for serving)

Squeeze lemon juice over the mashed avocado and stir (this will keep the avocado fresh in your lunch all day.  Mix in the tuna, Dijon mustard and Mrs. Dash to taste.  My favorite way is to eat this as a lettuce wrap, but bread works great too!

Enjoy!

Stuffed,

Brittany

Hummus

Andy and I love hummus and snack on it quite frequently.  For the most part we usually just buy original flavor, but occasionally we mix it up.  So instead of purchasing hummus this last week, I decided to make it.  It turned out great!  Smooth and creamy, with a nice garlicky taste. 

Here’s the recipe:

1 clove garlic

1 (19 ounce) can garbanzo beans, half the liquid reserved

4 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons tahini

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon salt

black pepper to taste

2 tablespoons olive oil

Slap ya Mama Cajun seasoning (optional)

Pita chips, cucumbers, and bell peppers are my favorites to eat hummus with!

In a blender, chop the garlic. Pour garbanzo beans into blender, reserving about a tablespoon for garnish. Place lemon juice, tahini, chopped garlic and salt in blender. Blend until creamy and well mixed.

Transfer the mixture to a medium serving bowl. Sprinkle with pepper and pour olive oil over the top. Garnish with reserved garbanzo beans.  Another option is to sprinkle some of the Cajun seasoning on top, it is delicious with the hummus.

Hope y'all love this!

Stuffed,

Brittany

Slow Cooker Taco Soup

Around last fall/winter, Andy and I discovered the joy of cooking in the slow cooker.  I borrowed a slow cooker from my mom one day and needless to say, she never got it back.  What was even funnier, was when she got jealous of how much we started using her slow cooker and loving what we were making, she went out and bought herself another one (and she actually uses it now too).

When I first started making food in the slow cooker I came across Stephanie O’Dea’s “Make It Fast, Cook It Slow” cookbooks and it is still one of my favorite cookbooks to pull recipes from.  All of the recipes take very little prep time and always come out delicious and her taco soup is exactly that.  It is scrumptious, hearty and makes for great leftovers.

Here is the recipe:

2 cans of kindey beans, drained and rinsed

2 cans of pinto beans, drained and rinsed

2 cans of corn

1 onion, diced

1 large can of diced tomatoes

1 can tomatoes and chiles (rotel is fine and I like using the hot one)

1 - 2 packets taco seasoning (depending on how much meat you are using)

1 packet ranch dressing mix

1 to 1 ½ lb browned ground meat (we like to use 1 ½ buffalo meat)

shredded cheese and sour cream for embelishment

Brown and drain meat.  Add meat and onion to slow cooker.  Sprinkle seasoning packets on top of meat.  Drain and rinse beans, then add to slow cooker.  Add entire contents of corn and tomato cans.  Stir.

Cover and cook on low for 8 -10 hours or on high for 4 – 5 hours.  Serve with sour cream and cheese.

I hope you all love this one as much as we do!

Stuffed,

Brittany

Salsa Chickpea Lettuce Wraps/ Chickpea - Eggplant Stew

This was my last vegan recipe from vegan/vegetarian week and they were suppose to be lettuce wraps, but I made a few adjustments and although the picture does not depict this I really made it into a stew and it was delicious!  It took me no time at all and the salsa’s that I used gave it a great kick.  For the non-vegan’s out there, this would be a perfect side to any meat dish.

Here is the recipe:

10 whole lettuce leaves

1 whole green bell pepper, seeded and diced

1 whole red bell pepper, seeded and diced

1 ½ cups diced eggplant

½ cup onion or ¼ cup scallions

1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes (I got the kind with green chiles in it too)

8 ounces salsa

(3 Tbsp jalapeno green salsa, like Mrs. Renfros, if you want an extra kick)

15 ounces chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Stew instructions

Saute onion in olive oil (and minced garlic if you choose).  Add in eggplant, cook for about 5 -7 minutes.  Mix in chickpeas, tomatoes and salsa.  Cook for about 8 minutes.  Top with bell peppers and serve with rice or on its own.

Lettuce wrap instructions

(To make these as the lettuce wraps, leave out the eggplant and diced tomatoes, but increase the amount of salsa to 12 oz.)

Combine chickpeas and salsa in a medium sauce pan. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until all of the liquid has absorbed and the chickpeas have taken on the salsa’s color, about 8 minutes. For best results, refrigerate over night. Spoon chickpeas into lettuce leaves and top with chopped bell pepper pieces. Serve chickpeas at any temperature. (Makes about 8 wraps)

Hope you all love this one!

Stuffed,

Brittany

Chickpea-Edamame Burgers with Tahini Dill Sauce

Hi everyone!  Sorry for not having posted in the last couple of weeks.  I have been super busy, but I have some great recipes that I will be posting this week to catch up!  A couple of weeks ago was vegan week and I had some very tasty meals that fit the category.  One thing that I absolutely loved during my meatless week was chickpeas.  I think I had chickpeas in every meal I made. 

I made these chickpea-edamame burgers for my mom, her boyfriend and the hubby of course.  Everyone loved them, including Andy who is against all things vegan!  When I mentioned soy beans to him and explained that they were the same as edamame just without the shell, he decided he probably shouldn’t eat those anymore.  That makes no sense to me, but I am sure he will eat them next time we have sushi.  Now the boys looked at this dish more as an appetizer or side dish, but they still thoroughly enjoyed the burgers and the tahini-dill sauce.  The other reason I loved these burgers is they kept great and were perfect for a snack (1 patty) or a meal with a salad.

Here is the recipe:

Burgers:

1 1/2 cups shelled edamame beans

1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas   

1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons tahini

2 teaspoons coconut aminos (or soy sauce)

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

freshly ground pepper, to taste

1/2 cup quinoa flour (or brown rice flour)

Tahini-Dill Sauce: (I tripled this recipe so I had enough for everyone)

1 tablespoon tahini

2 tablespoons water

2 teaspoons lemon/lime juice

sea salt and pepper, to taste

1 teaspoon dill

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Steam the edamame until soft. Combine chickpeas, edamame, water and tahini in a food processor until smooth (it's ok if the edamame is somewhat still a bit chunky)

2. Transfer to a bowl and stir in spices, aminos, and flour. Form into 7 patties. Bake for 20 minutes.

3. To make sauce, combine sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Makes enough to dress 2 burgers.

Hope y'all enjoy these as much as we did!

Stuffed,

Brittany